


Our Song of Dusk

by Darkhymns



Category: The Death Gate Cycle - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, POV Multiple, Romance, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 12:53:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhymns/pseuds/Darkhymns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Death's Gate was closed off, they all had to rely on each other. In the Nexus, it is no different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Song of Dusk

**Author's Note:**

> Well.
> 
> I've been debating whether I should put this up or not. Still kinda am. But, I need to be done with this. (Let's hope I don't change my mind). Written for all the non-existent shippers of these three!
> 
> Please don't hurt me.

The world, Alfred realized, looked very different for a dragon.

Whenever he invoked his emerald scales, blinking in the sun, stretching out leathery wings to lift him off the ground, the sights were hard to ignore. The details and textures of the clouds he flew through were traced out for him- the subtle movements of a fox or other small animal, shifting through the grass, crunching leaves beneath their feet, were so very easily picked up by his golden eyes.

At times it is too much almost, the images and sounds assaulting his senses, speaking to him in a myriad of colors. It might have been the reason why he could not remember his first flight- for how could a man like him take all of it, when he had once wanted nothing more than to hide beneath the rock? But now, he later realized, the world looked bright and alive, heightened the scents and images to a wonderful degree. As it did with the sky, as it did with his friends.

When he flew with them on his back during their Runs, steering away from hungry wolfen jaws from below, he would feel their weight, barely a feather's touch against him. They were as light as one too, upheld by a strength that he had never dared to imagine before. He would pick up on their every movement, on every breath they would give and take as they traveled through the air. Marit's hands would always place themselves before her, callused fingers gripping the scales. Haplo's would grab onto one of his spikes, his palm resting against the smooth and dangerous barb, holding it as the familiar thing it was. He would feel their bodies shift, getting more comfortable, adjusting themselves against the buffeting wind. He would note their warmth against him, a very pleasant sensation, one that he had started to feel a little guilty over. They were his friends, a precious concept that he had once taken for granted.

Haplo would sometimes give a little whisper, turning to Marit as he did so, "How did we ever get by on foot?" A very low breath that Alfred would hear, that Haplo knew he would. One can't hide from a dragon's senses, and though Alfred didn't mean to pry, the Patryns had never tried doing so in the first place. Marit would grip his scales a little tighter, and the warmth would travel.

However, those movements and colors and scents don't leave him when he discards the wings. Even when he is back to plain Alfred again, a timid middle-aged man still coming to terms with his Serpent Mage title, he'll notice every step they take, every movement of a muscle when they sit inside their home, watching the rescued children play. And then it would twist his heart in such a strange way- a reminder of things that he is so glad to have again, and that to ask for anything more would just be selfish of him. But it didn't dispel the guilt, instead leaving him with a want that was hard to fully translate into his own mind.

Haplo pinpointed his discomfort right away. Not a difficult thing to do between shared souls, yet still it had taken Alfred by surprise. The Patryn man sat down beside him as he had been going through his library again, feeding his old and curious hunger. Books were scattered across his table, a small pile compared to the others stacked across the humble bedroom. The hour was late, the younger inhabitants of their home all fast asleep.

"Are you alright, Coren?"

He was self-conscious for that small moment; hearing his name carried through the air, watching Haplo lean against the table, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to reveal the circling runes on the skin. All very familiar things, and it was that familiarity that hurt him so, in the rightness of it all. He considered lying at first, for he didn't want to ruin things, but he had never been so good at it anyway.

"Maybe," he replied, for he had nothing else more definite.

He felt, more than he heard, Marit beside him, the soft and casual rhythm of her breathing. She stood by his shoulder, her arms crossed, her lips twisted. "Well, that's a start. Actually being honest with us for the first time, Sartan?"

Alfred smiled. The title that she and Haplo called him, once out of disdain, had morphed into affection. It made him relax, made him grateful for these two beside him. "I felt you would appreciate that."

Haplo placed a hand on his shoulder, the heat sifting through the material of his coat. When the Patryn spoke there were images of dusk, the skies covered over with clouds of orange and red. "We'd be more appreciative if you could tell us what."

"I know," he replied, his own words showing their flights, the hands on his back. He didn't try to hide it, feeling much too at ease now to do so. "What are you two still doing up?"

"Checking in on you." Haplo lifted a small book from the pile, an assortment of paper strips serving as bookmarks sticking out from the top. "You know your research will still be here when you wake up."

"Well, I was just trying to learn more about the Sundering. And maybe find any reports about the dragon-snakes- if they had ever been seen before."

"If there was any, I'm sure they would've wiped it all out." Haplo put the book down. "My friend, it's okay to rest. We've had a busy year."

"Yes," Alfred agreed. The meetings, the Runs, the people- it felt good to be a part of something. "Perhaps when I'm done with this chapter-"

Marit slyly closed the book he held, pushing it back. "You can pick up where you left off."

It was rather late, he knew that. He usually had trouble sleeping anyway, but the dragon's memories were still fresh in his head. Sometimes he would lie on his bed, transfixed by what he saw, what he had learned. "I'm not able to sleep tonight," he confessed. "I'm not really sure why."

"See,  _now_  you're lying," Haplo said, his voice just a fraction lower. Fingers dug a little into his shoulder, but not by much. Just enough for Alfred to notice his friend's strength, steadying him in careful fashion.

Another chair scraped across the floor, pulled up next to him on his left. Alfred always had three chairs in his room, enough to seat his closest friends. "I think you just need to relax, Coren," Marit said, saying the name just as effortlessly, knowing its importance. "Especially with us."

"Oh?" Alfred blinked, feeling a little lost, that they knew something that he didn't. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Marit smiled then. It was a good expression on her, pulling her lips up just so, brightening her eyes. Memories that were not his own flooded his brain, of when that smile would show up under the shade of a tree, rare as it was.

Dragons were terrifying things, an oddity in the Sartan's grand plan, born from -or surviving- the Sundering. But the dragons of the Labyrinth lived for blood and torture, a fact he had gotten to know much too personally as a black claw had dug through his skin. The memory left him with impressions instead of actual images, his habitual forgetfulness finally becoming useful. Just darkness, pleas for mercy, and hands that took his own. His own mind had asked for Haplo, remembering his friend's own injuries, needing to rescue him, hoping to be rescued by him. But it was Marit who had gotten him out of the chains, shared his pain, dragging him away to safety.

He blinked as she laid her head against him, her face pressed into his chest, her arms wrapped around him. Affection as plain as this was difficult for Patryns, but for her especially. And he was touched, unable to ignore the scent of her chestnut hair, the sensation of her head just brushing against the bottom of his chin. He wondered dimly what Haplo would think about all of this until a hand laid against his cheek, gently turning his head.

Haplo's mouth had its own heat, a soft and wet feeling brushing against his tongue. Alfred started a little, raising a hand, unsure what to do. But the kiss was familiar and comforting, and that was all that he really wanted. He tasted the images of the sun setting in the Labyrinth, of Marit and Haplo curled up beside him, his wings hovering over them as they slept, watching their chests rise and fall. The prison's hatred was pervasive, never ending, wanting nothing more than to tear apart his scales. But when Marit and Haplo were here, he could never let such a thing happen. So he would circle his body around them, his eyes scanning the grounds, warning everything away until the sun rose again.

"Oh…" he whispered when his mouth was free. "That's…" He could not ask this of them. This was not a comfort that he deserved, not when he had this home, this peace, and these two beside him. Still, Marit pressed her lips against his neck, heated breath walking across his skin. Haplo smiled at him, quietly, happily.

 _If it is okay with you, my friend,_ Alfred heard. Another soul that lived inside of him, another life he knew.  _You are my friends_ , he thought back, and his heart wringed again. Haplo leaned forward.

The kiss took away his voice, gently, until his body stretched a little, his hand placing itself against Haplo's neck. He felt Marit's breath tickle his ear, her hands lighting up pleasant nerves against his sides. They gently brushed across his skin, traced the growing heat against his clothes, casually, as if this was not the first time. And when he exchanged Haplo's lips for her's, not even sure how, or when they had all made such a decision, he was fine with it. He didn't feel guilty anymore.

They were both very dear to him.

* * *

 

Once, to Haplo, a year was just a passing of time, marked by intervals if when the sun would set, would rise, when the air was warm or chilly. A year survived was just another victory, that he needed to keep running and suffering to make it through another one. When he had finally escaped the Labyrinth, a year meant a time for preparation. A year gone meant the time that Xar would rule all the worlds was closer at hand.

He once waited for the years to pass, now he wanted to hold them still.

And it was only one year ago that Haplo would have said he was just fine being alone. People were distractions at best, a liability at their worst. He had no use to worry over another's well-being, whether he was traveling through the Labyrinth, or to the four worlds. His only companion had been the dog, and it did not count when it was still technically part of himself.

Marit had been a distraction, Alfred a liability. He was glad he didn't have such thoughts anymore.

The room had grown darker, with just a sliver of light from the twilight sky making it through the curtains. He looked on as Alfred's body shifted a little, with Marit taking his lips. It was good to not see him faint, or stutter, or try to move away. An improvement that made Haplo stay close, the warmth between the two covering him in its soft folds.

Kissing Alfred had felt very natural, but not surprisingly so. Sometimes he had dreams of long rows of crystal tombs, knowing each and every young face inside. That loneliness of years past brought reminders of his own. He used to mind it, back when forming chaos had once been a priority, but now the images didn't bring a fresh pain anymore. He knew that Alfred had dreams too, of running through the forest and feeling sharp twigs against his bare feet. And even though Haplo may not have shared a soul with Marit, they had shared a part of their lives together, and knew what her own dreams entailed.

He had asked Alfred once before, "Are you alright with all this, Coren?" meaning the Nexus with its city of Patryns, with Arianus closed to him forever. The man had admitted that it was difficult, because he had never been so good with change, at least nothing so radical. Wasn't the last time such a thing had happened, he could barely find the strength to leave his home, playing a game with those faces, willing them to move until it had been too much to bear? "But then," Alfred had grinned, a genuine expression for him, "back then, I had lost everything. Here, I gained instead."

Still, Haplo kept his eye on him, worried that the man would be overwhelmed by these new changes. But the children they had brought out of the dark, after adjustments to their new home, to a Sartan that was nothing like the stories they'd been told, would eagerly gather around their grandfather's feet. Alfred would smile, incredibly happy, fitting into this society of half-breeds, evicted Sartan, and ancient enemies more than he ever had in any other place.

He noticed that of Marit too, because she herself could not stay in one place, in one situation, and be content for very long. He had thought that any connection between the two would take some getting used to (which it had) but he remembered when the three of them had rested in the living room after another Run, and Alfred, so exhausted after hours of flight and magic, had fallen asleep with his head against her shoulder. She had not moved, or turned away, or even frowned, as if this was the place for him.

It was natural to kiss Alfred, just as it was natural to hold Marit as they slept. And it was nice to see Marit accept this other part of him, held within Alfred's body. He enjoyed watching her kiss him, her hands working free his clothes, unbuttoning them in soft, subtle movements that Alfred didn't even notice until she was gripping his hardness tight. The Sartan gasped, started to ask if this was really okay with her. But his concerns were eased away when Marit kissed just beneath his ear, when Haplo took his mouth again, recognizing the sounds he made.

Alfred's own mouth was very warm, having a sweetness in his tongue and lips. The kiss deepened even more, bringing a flush to Haplo's own cheeks, tightening his chest, especially when he felt Marit's lips brush against the fingers that held Alfred's neck. "Does- does she mind me being around?" Alfred had asked him just a few months before, still remembering Marit's initial frustration with him. "Don't we all, at first?" Haplo had teased.

Despite the Sartan's quickening breaths and just as eager mouth, he took some time at first, double guessing what action would be welcome. But movements became easier between the three, rhythmic. So focused Haplo had been on easing Alfred with his kisses, his sight filled with Marit easing the other out of his coat, that he wasn't aware of the shift in attention, of Marit sliding her fingers up his shirt, and of Alfred kissing him back harder. He briefly wondered if the Sartan's old forgetfulness was rubbing off on him.

But there was enough to think about, such as the fingers pressed against him, the warm mouths trailing over the runes on his skin, thoughtful on the paths they took. He wasn't sure who exactly helped undress him later- Alfred's hands, after overcoming their timidity, were on his body as well as Marit's- or who suggested to move from the chairs to the bed in the room. All he knew was Marit's taste when he kissed her shoulder, holding her smooth, bare body against him, and felt Alfred finally taking some initiative and working his cock. The hand held onto him tight, moving with grace and knowledge of where to go, just as Marit knew how to press her breasts against him and nip at his ear.

"We looked for you," Marit had told him before when safety had been such a strange concept, her eyes still haunted by memories of the world of stone. "I needed you, and… so did Alfred. We both did." Was he worth that much to go across the fire sea for?

It wasn't difficult to share, not between these two that had both a part of him in their own ways. The things he wanted were very simple- Marit's face in the morning, the unrestrained laughter of the children, for the Sartan to finally stop his apologizing, which he had done for the most part. It was amazing to know that he had been very close to not having any of it at all. Hatred had been very easy for him once, until the dog had brought back the stumbling man, had sidled up against the woman whose name had once been too painful to even remember.

Alfred's mouth was on his neck, sucking and licking and making the hand touching him that much sweeter. Marit was kissing his chest, pressing into him, restricting his breaths. With his hand and her body, Haplo could have come right then, and the very thought of loosing against Alfred's palm as Marit held onto him had almost been too much. But instead he gently pushed her onto the bed, her back against the headboard. He guided Alfred along with him, whispering small and needy suggestions.

"I want to watch you." His own hand placed itself against Alfred's cock, slick and warm. "I need to watch you." The Sartan was already overcome, his breaths quickening, and Haplo knew that what he saw before them was a very familiar sight; of the twining blue and red runes circling over a woman's body.

Haplo stayed back as Alfred took her right breast in his mouth, gentle in his actions, a hand trailing down her stomach. Marit arched her back when he did so, lips parted, dark hair spread across her shoulders. It was more than enough to ignite heat across his skin, leaving him aching. He gripped onto Alfred tight, breathing against his ear. The closeness was good, smothered his senses in the most pleasant way possible.

He was told that to be alone was to be strong. That was why he had been given his name.  _Not alone, but single,_  he thought as he moved over Marit's body, sucking on her left nipple that was stiff against his tongue. For he was just one person that was part of something greater, one life out of three, but all shared. He heard Alfred moan next to him, felt Marit's fingers curl through his hair.

And he realized that for the first time in his life, he was completely satisfied.

* * *

 

What Marit knew about connection once before was that it was tenuous at best. A Runner shouldn't need one, -couldn't- at least not for very long. It was good to keep moving forward, good to shield herself from danger which can come in all forms.

So it was easier to leave everything behind. All things in the Labyrinth couldn't last, so leaving Haplo had been the practical choice, just like leaving her child. Rue was safer with the Squatters, she had reasoned, leaving her free to continue running. She was certainly not the first to make such a decision. But now, with this home, with these mouths attached to her skin, she felt them as regrets she could do very little about.

Her body shivered, the heat inside her pulsing. The feel of Haplo's and Alfred's mouths against her were incredibly different, the play of little bites on her left and soft licking on her right creating a wonderful sensation. Hardness pressed against both her thighs. She leaned up against them, the action prompting Haplo to grab her breast and suck on it harder. Alfred was still very gentle, clinging onto his hesitance, as if afraid he could hurt her with his ineffectual teeth. But she felt his tongue circle around her skin, knowing her more than before. His moans were softer, a light tinge of magic escaping through his pitch. Haplo's own mouth caressed her heart rune with his tongue and lips, detailing the ink's pattern, the reality of her name.

The Sartan began holding onto her tightly, his fingers moving from her stomach to caress her thighs, asking, wondering.  _A dragon should be more assertive_ , she thought, remembering him tearing apart a tiger man's limbs from their last Run. Now just how he could hold back such fierceness at times had been beyond her understanding at first. When she had grasped the arm of this clumsy man only to find herself riding dragon back above the fire sea in a matter of seconds, she thought a dream couldn't have been more erratic. But she had learned, ever since leaving the Labyrinth, that there were many factors at work, that there were so many things to consider past one's self- that these were the reasons why Haplo had moved away from his solitude, that a Sartan as harmless as the one on her could fight off a marauding horde for her and Haplo.

So she was patient, (with Alfred you had to be, in all things) sometimes lifting her legs up slightly, pushing against his hand, encouraging him in her moans. When long, slender fingers finally reached inside her, somehow finding the right spot within, his thumb pressing against pleasant nerves as he did so, she shuddered. Haplo's teeth nibbled against her skin harder, and Alfred's tongue traced across dark, curling lines, keeping his fingers at a set speed, gradually moving through her harder.  _He can be merciless when he wants to be,_  but she could barely keep the thought coherent once Haplo left her chest to kiss her.

When the Seventh Gate had closed, she and Haplo had made up for lost time, keeping breaths steady as he found her place within her again, giving quiet promises to never leave. "But it was me who did," she had said, and he had smiled at her, quietly, hands in her hair, "Well, that can go for the both of us then, if you want." And at times, she found herself still afraid that it will all go away. The Labyrinth still existed outside their walls, and the dragon-snakes kept waiting for a moment, a weakness to exploit. Then she would see the children, some of them riding on Alfred's back during a flight, or hanging from Haplo's shoulders, smiling,  _laughing._

She knew about Alfred's past, an image she could only glean from both of their words. She could admit some jealousy on her part, for these two men to have a connection, even one that had been forced upon them. Would Haplo's heart always be separated like so, the other held by those clumsy hands? But maybe it was impossible -for all their people and their possibilities- to ever grasp the entirety of another's heart. Haplo, despite his best efforts, didn't fully understand her need to be the one to leave first, just as she could not fully understand his own brand of loneliness, or Alfred's fear of his own power. Was that truly all right, even with all three of them together like this, with these soft touches that sent her shaking?

Haplo swallowed her breath, exchanged his tongue for her's as Alfred continued to suck. Her own fingers moved down, sliding against Alfred's cock, running across it's length like she did before, making the Sartan emit small gasps in between. His heat felt pleasant against her palm, a familiar warmth that she knew when she would touch his scales, that even gave heat to her bones.

After several licks and nipping at her chin, she felt Haplo move over her, heard his body go toward the hand that connected her and Alfred. Lips pressed against her fingers, a tongue flicked out to lap between them. Alfred began moaning more, trying to keep his mouth on her, to continue the work of his fingers. But through the dark haze, she watched as Haplo's lips engulfed Alfred, leaving her to caress the remaining flesh that he could not swallow. The Sartan gasped louder, shivering, pressing his forehead against her shoulder. Still he kept his fingers in her, though the rhythm stuttered.

She took his chin with her free hand and kissed him, searching for the images again, her mind meeting with the dark sky and the dying flames of a campfire. She knew that Alfred could barely keep himself together, surrounded as he was by their affection. His sounds told her how Haplo's tongue was so wet and warm, how soft her lips were. She pictured the Sartan coming into Haplo's mouth, sharing it with him, urging him.

But there was that fierceness again, one that did not only come to the surface when he would gain back his wings. "Not… not yet," he whispered, gently pushing them both off.

His eyes were a striking blue, a shade brighter than Haplo's, but the resemblance had always seemed more than coincidence. She remembered thinking that when she found him in the dragon's cave, realizing that these were people she had to find, to bring back- to finally go to instead of running away. When Haplo had lied there on the bier, lifeless and still, she felt like she had been running in circles, leaving and finding and leaving again, until Alfred told her about the dog.

She could not mind their shared memories, giving her a hope that maybe a home was near. Perhaps she could even share her own.

Hands wrapped around her hips, lifting her just so to settle her on strong legs that were set up beneath her. She felt Haplo's familiar hardness shift through her, felt his mouth press against the back of her neck. She didn't fear falling over. His hold on her was firm, arms wrapped around her torso, and his cock meeting her entrance and squeezing tight. She gasped and stuttered, slowly locking in place with him.

The other pair of hands that were on her were welcome, just like with the gentle, so exceedingly gentle, mouth. Alfred's kiss was so soft that it was intense, prompting her to sigh, to writhe, to hitch her breath. And his hands were good, always, ghosting across her skin between her legs, meeting her wetness and the shaft that was already digging through her. His fingers touched her clit just above, knowing enough -too much, so much- to help her, to be a part of her.

To leave these two was impossible.

Her hand took Alfred's cock, pumping him hard and fast, showing her own mercilessness, taking in his moans and other sounds of need. Knees beneath her lifted, plunging into her more, with Haplo's lips against her ear. When Alfred bent to suck on her left breast, to kiss and lick and bite across her name where Haplo had just done, retracing the same lines in agonizing slowness, it was in a tenderness she could recognize from when a Patryn man she had vowed to kill had sat by her on the river bed, talking about those that he had met on his travels, of a dwarf maiden living in an ocean, of bickering elven siblings surrounded by green, and of a man so very lost in a world he could barely recognize anymore.

Come spilled against her stomach, the action making Alfred actually bite her nipple, just lightly tugging at her skin so wonderfully.  _These are the only things that matter._ Haplo gasped, coming into her, teeth digging into her neck.  _Didn't Xar say love breaks the heart?_  The climb took longer for her, slow and arduous and agonizing, so much that she didn't want to let go. It was only when she could barely breathe, with two voices whispering, encouraging her, that she realized she had finally tumbled over the edge.

_Except love can rebuild it again._

The room was dark, pleasant against her eyes. She could feel them both laying against her, waiting patiently for the waves of her climax to subside. She couldn't help but think that if any being meant them harm, now would be the time, for she could barely utter a syllable to signal off a spark. If a dragon-snake had somehow snuck into the Nexus, dressed in mismatched runes, eyes as crimson as the dawn, they would do all they could to come upon their house and demand for blood.

Except she knew that was wrong. They wouldn't have been able to, even if they had made it past the walls, past the warding runes. Those poisonous things, once feeding off her doubt, would have found nothing to sustain them. They would have starved, faded into nothingness the minute they entered the house. They would not have understood, no, but she did.

Curled into both their arms, with Haplo kissing her neck tiredly, with Alfred even giving a small smile, she dared herself to be happy. To love was not as difficult as she had once believed.


End file.
